


Can't You See?

by nneefa



Category: Bleach
Genre: College, Didn't Know They Were Dating, Drabble Sequence, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, High School, Humor, Post-Thousand Year Blood War Arc
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:33:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28386303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nneefa/pseuds/nneefa
Summary: It's not like they were intentionally keeping it a secret; they just weren't quite ready to handle the implications brought on by announcing their relationship. | A series of one-shots, in which the people closest to Ichigo and Orihime slowly, but surely find out they're dating.
Relationships: Inoue Orihime/Kurosaki Ichigo
Comments: 8
Kudos: 26





	1. Arisawa Tatsuki

**Author's Note:**

> The title was taken from a verse in "My Last Affair" by Billie Holiday: "Can't you see, what love and romance have done to me? I'm not the same as I used to be. This is my last affair." I liked it so much that it became part of the inspiration for this story.
> 
> Thank you to @zabiume for encouraging me to post this, and in general, as I never would've written for IchiHime were it not for them! Heavily inspired by Epiphanies by sunshard on fanfiction.net. This is my first IchiHime fic ever, and lastly, the order matters, a little.

[o1/15]

Tatsuki loved Orihime. There weren’t enough words in the dictionary - no, the _world_ \- that could possibly describe just how much she _felt_ for her best friend. Having played the role as her personal protector since middle school, Tatsuki believed it was her responsibilty to oversee every possible facet of Orihime’s life, more particularly the parts that meant to do her harm, and kick its ass if she had to.

She couldn’t really help it.

Orihime was just so tooth-achingly sweet and kind, with the patience of Guatama Buddha, that Tatsuki sometimes thought of her as a real-life princess, odd quirks and all. She had a heart that could rival only the sun, which meant she had a way of pulling all sorts of things, mostly bad, into her orbit, and it was precisely for this reason that Tatsuki was so protective of her.

So naturally, when Orihime had said that there was something she’d needed to tell her, something she’d stressed couldn’t be said over the phone, Tatsuki had immediately assumed the worst. The last time something like that had happened, she hadn’t seen her best friend for weeks. Was she going to Soul Society again, like she’d done when they were first years? Was she preparing for another war? Or worse, was someone planning to _kidnap_ her again?

Tatsuki knew she shouldn’t have much to worry about in the way of _that_ , at least not anymore, and she supposed the whole disappearing act was something she ought to have gotten used to by now, as well. Orihime was a big girl now, with incredible powers more than capable of taking care of the both of them, much less herself - not to mention her newly acquired, orange-haired Mother Hen. However, no matter how much Tatsuki tried to tell herself it wasn’t a big deal, that Orihime was more than likely trying to come up with a new catchphrase in the most melodramatic way possible, she couldn’t quite quell the bubbling well of anxiety nestling in her gut.

Turned out, it was a pretty big fucking deal.

After skirting around each other all damn day long, the universe had finally decided to relent and give them a chance to talk, and Tatsuki soon found herself at the park closest to school, where they both agreed to meet up. She released a breath of relief, the bundle of nerves that made up her insides instantly untangling, when she saw Orihime sitting at bottom of the stairway, happy and laughing and _not_ in any immediate danger, and smiled.

Only to falter when she saw just _who_ had put her best friend in such a good mood.

“What’s _he_ doing here?” Tatsuki asked, gesturing to Ichigo with a tilt of her chin once she’d reached them. Their little flinch didn’t go unnoticed when they stood up, like they’d gotten caught doing something wrong, but she figured there’d be plenty of time to ask about that later, as she focused solely on Orihime.

“I thought you said there was something you had to tell me.”

“Inoue asked me to be here,” Ichigo interjected defensively.

“Yeah?” Tatsuki questioned, one eyebrow raised, but he didn’t elaborate, merely shrugged his shoulders, which only made her even more suspicious. “But, don’t you have work? Don’t you _both_ have work? What’s going on here?”

“T-Tatsuki-chan, about that… Well, it’s just that, um,” Orihime stammered, squirming under her best friend’s intense gaze, unable to properly string a sentence together.

Tatsuki watched as her cheeks changed from pink to scarlet in a matter of seconds until her face matched the same shade of red as her uniform tie, her fists steadily bunching up her school skirt. Ichigo didn’t seem to be faring any better, because while he tried to appear casual with his hands in his pockets, even she could see the flush in his ears as he looked everywhere but at them. Hell, now that she thought about it, the air around them seemed completely different than it was from a month ago.

_Ding_. A lightbulb went off in Tatsuki’s head.

“No way,” she said breathlessly. “Don’t tell me, you two are a couple?”

They both shared the same embarrassed expression, wide eyes and all, as if it’d just dawned on them that they were an actual item, but neither of them denied it. Rather, Orihime nodded her head vigorously while Ichigo scowled behind his hand. Tatsuki wanted to cry, could feel the sting of tears welling up behind her eyes, because goddammit leave it to Orihime to make everything sound like a matter of life and death, even when that something happened to be her own relationship status, when _honestly_!

Instead of crying, however, Tatsuki pulled Orihime into a bone-crushing hug, her best friend’s jet stream of tears soaking into her shirt. When she finally pulled back, cradling Orihime by her elbows, she barked, “It’s about damn time! I swear, I thought I’d have to lock you two in the janitor’s closet at the rate you were going.”

“Not so loud!” Ichigo chided, searching their surroundings for any nosy passerbys with a quick turn of his head, her implication not lost on him as his face burned red. “Someone could hear you.”

“What was that, Ichigo?” Tatsuki asked over a sobbing Orihime.

“You heard me,” he griped, but even he couldn’t quite contain his smile as he watched his best friend and… girlfriend embrace for the second time.

“Oh, Tatsuki-chan, I’m sorry,” Orihime blubbered through her tears, sniffling loudly before wiping her face with the sleeve of her shirt. “I would’ve told you sooner, but the timing was always off. It was like the universe didn’t want us to spend even five minutes together.”

Tatsuki smiled fondly at her. “That’s enough of that, Orihime. I’m just happy that you’re happy, even if that means handing you over to someone like Ichigo,” she said with a playful smirk, gesturing at him with her chin again and earning a laugh from Orihime.

“Why you-”

“I just wanna know one thing,” she said, ignoring him. She took a step back, watching as they regarded her curiously, put her hands on her hips, and gave them both a sly grin.

“Who confessed first?”


	2. Ishida Uryuu

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize in advance for any OOC-ness. Of all the ones I've attempted thus far, not only was Ishida's the hardest, but trying to find a balance with his interaction between Ichigo and Orihime was rather difficult. That said, I hope y'all enjoy this!

[o2/15]

Ishida was not only the smartest person at Karakura High, but he was also the most vigilant. His friends liked to call him meticulous, picky even, but it was his attention to detail, his ability to think and plan ten steps ahead, that set him apart from the likes of his peers. It was one of the few reasons he was both Student Council President and President of the Handicrafts Club.

He knew how to read people, could conclude as much as he had to about others just by looking at them. His friends were no exception, and yes, loathe as Ishida was to admit it, this included Ichigo as well.

It may have stemmed from the one and a half years he’d spent observing him, before he’d regained his powers, but Ishida could almost always tell when something was even slightly off-kilter about Ichigo, from the way he tried and failed to feign nonchalance, right down to the type of tasteless, skin-tight t-shirt he wore beneath his uniform. This even included the type of accessories he carried on his person, like the small, ugly lion keychain dangling off the end of his cellphone.

Ishida only saw it once, when Ichigo had pulled it out of his pocket to check the time, but once was all it took.

Initially, he thought it was weird. Ishida never pegged him as the type to wear stuff like that, considering his personality. If he tried, he could’ve easily dismissed it as him being partial to lion paraphernalia, as Ishida briefly recalled his sewing project with Ichigo’s stuffed animal Kon, but then he noticed _Orihime_ with the same keychain during homeroom, and that’s when he knew something was up.

 _Ding_. A lightbulb went off in Ishida’s head.

They’re dating.

How hadn’t he noticed it before?

“Congratulations, Inoue-san,” Ishida had said to Orihime later that day after school, with a small smile.

Not counting Ichigo, they were the only ones in the Handicrafts clubroom. Student Council had ran an hour over schedule thanks to the Vice-President, and he was there to make sure the club members left everything in place before heading home. Apparently, Orihime had the same idea, though she clearly had gotten sidetracked since both she and Ichigo were currently working on their homework.

“You figured it out faster than I thought,” Ichigo commented idly, erasing an error Orihime had pointed out in his work.

“Is that supposed to be your idea of a compliment, Kurosaki?” Ishida glared at him just as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “If so, save it. Unlike some of us, you don’t exactly live in my mind rent-free.”

Ichigo looked ready to fire off an insult, the space between his eyebrows already knotted up, but was interrupted by an embarrassed Orihime, who flashed Ishida a bright smile, before he could say anything.

“Thank you, Ishida-kun!”

Ishida returned her smile with one of his own, having finished his routine check-up of the clubroom, before deciding to head for the door, feeling as though he’d interrupted something between them. He lifted the strap of his book bag over his shoulder, satisfied, and prepared to leave.

“Hey,” Ichigo called out to him, just as he was about to open the sliding door, leaning over the back of his chair with one arm. Ishida paused to look at him over his shoulder.

“Aren’t you going to congratulate me too?”

“Why would I do that?” Ishida questioned, facing him fully.

“Why?” he repeated, actually sounding confused before scratching his hair and frowning. “What do you mean ‘why?’ Inoue… She isn’t… exactly dating herself, now is she?” he grumbled, like it was the most obvious thing in the world, but Ishida knew Ichigo well enough to know it was all a façade, especially if the red in his ears was anything to go by.

He couldn’t hide his embarrassment even if he wanted to. It’d probably be awhile before he could ever admit aloud, and with full confidence too, that he and Orihime were even dating in the first place. It’d certainly explain why they felt the need to hide in the Handicrafts clubroom after school. From across him, Ishida could see Orihime duck her head, clearly trying to hide her blush behind her bangs.

Fine, if that was what he wanted. Ishida smirked.

“Congratulations, Kurosaki,” Ishida said, watching as Ichigo’s expression slowly transformed from sour to pleased; only to go right back sour at his next words, until his face matched the grumpy-looking lion’s dangling off of Orihime’s bookbag.

“You aren’t entirely brain dead after all.”

“Asshole,” Ichigo muttered, turning back to his homework with a loud scrape of his chair.

Ishida nearly smiled as he left the classroom, bidding them both farewell before exiting the door. He’d probably never tell either of them, especially not Ichigo, but he supposed, under the warm, evening sunlight that filtered into the classroom, they _did_ look kind of cute doing their homework together.


End file.
